A Warning!!

Read: Proverbs 6:20-35
and Matthew 5:27-30

This is written speaking to young men, but it applies to women too!
How many of us look at things we shouldn't sometimes? Or perhaps look at members of the opposite sex in the wrong way???

Think on't!

A Thought on Prayer...

Matthew 6:8 says

"...for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."

Today at 'God@Work', our weekly Bible study here in Plymouth, Rev Karl Freeman was continuing our series on the essentials of the Christian with a talk on prayer. He introduced a very interesting thought.

When you were a child, did you ask your Dad for pocket money, or just nick it out of his wallet? Well, you would have asked your Dad for some money, if you needed some, and would have given it to you if he could. If you nicked the money out of his wallet, you would have done that instead of asking him for it. If you continued to just nick money out of his wallet, you would eventually have no need for your Dad, just his wallet. This is how it is with us and prayer. God gives good gifts to those who ask Him, according to His perfect will.

The Reply!

Lynx Consumer Care
Freepost NATE139
Milton Keynes
MK9 1BR

5 September 2006

Dear Mr Ingham

I was concerned to learn of your experiences with Lynx.

Whilst the Lynx Effect will draw girls to you it cannot do all the work for you...Try brushing up your chat up lines and eye contact - both ways to improve your chances with the opposite sex. And also make sure you keep spraying.

Spray more get more means precisely that. The more you spray the more Lynx Effect you are unleashing and the more confidence you will exude. This in turn will hopefully lead to more female attention.

You are clearly not spraying enough. Spray some more; be confident, witty and approachable. The girls should come a flocking.

I hope this has helped your situation and I would like to thank you for contacting us.

Please accept the enclosed with our compliments.

Yours sincerely

(signed)

Bradley Cursley

Consumer Care Advisor

--

Enclosures:

1 X Unilever HPC coupon £3

1 X Lynx Boost Shower Gel

A Letter...

28/08/06

Dear Sir/Madam

I have been using the Lynx brand of deodorising products for in excess of ten years now, and not once in all that time have I experience the reaction from any female woman of the opposite sex as portrayed in your television advertisements.

Am I doing something wrong, or do you manufacture a stronger version of your products for ugly blokes?


Yours faithfully





M J INGHAM, esq.

Pain... then Joy!

John 16:22-24 says

"So with you: now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no-one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatvever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

In this passage Jesus is explaining to His disciples how 'after a little while' they won't see Him, but then 'after a little while' they will see Him. He admits that this may be difficult for them to understand, but that it will only be a transitional period - much like a woman's pregnancy before giving birth. They have grown together as an unit, but there will be a time of pain - the birth, if you like - which will separate them, albeit briefly, before being reunited in joy (v.22). He compounds this joy by saying it will be complete (v.24b) and that, from that time on, God (His Father and ours) will give them (and us) whatever is asked for in Jesus' name.

Jesus is setting a theme here - that troubles are only temporary. John 16:33, which is the last significant recorded statement Jesus makes to His disciples pre-crucifixion/resurrection, says that we will have troubles... BUT He has overcome the world!

The Day We Die

Matthew 5:26-27 says

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?"

I have recently seen adverts on TV for a new programme, called "Change The Day You Die". The basic concept of the show is that they will calculate when a person is to die, based on their diet and lifestyle, then help them to change their life in order to extend it. So, if a person is told, say, they will die in ten years, then that person will do whatever it takes to stretch their life further, whether that means going to the gym every day, changing to a reduced-fat diet, or giving up smoking.

The thing is, God already has the times of our birth and death mapped out. The Bible tells us that He even knows how many hairs we have on our heads (Matthew 10:30). Even if someone who goes on this show changes their lifestyle for the better, I don't believe they will live any longer than was already planned in eternity. In fact, if living a healthier life does extend our expectancy, then God already knew we would change how we lived in order to live as long as
we eventually do.

Now, I'm not saying living a healthy life is wrong - we should certainly try to avoid anything that's really bad for us - but we can't change how long we live! There's nothing we can do to surprise God, or alter his plans.

So, what can we do? Well, the answer's clear: "Love The Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" and trust in Him with all your being. After all, He holds you in the palm of His hand.

Even Greater Things

John 14:12 says

"I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

Jesus speaks these words to His disciples in a rather "matter of fact" way - this is it, this is true - no tongue-in-cheek. To Him, it is a fact that anyone who has faith in Him will do what He has been doing, and will do even greater things!

To us, this statement may seem a little bizarre. Up to this point, Jesus had turned water into wine, fed the five thousand, walked on water and raised Lazarus from the dead. So how on Earth could we possibly top that?

We need to ask the question, "What exactly does Jesus mean by 'even greater things than these'?" The key, I believe, lies in the last few words of His statement, "...because I am going to the Father." (my emphasis). There is far more significance in this than Him simply returning to His Father - it means He will have been crucified and risen again, and what He came to accomplish will be finished. Not only this, but it also means that The Holy Spirit will be with us, as Jesus says later on that same night (John 16:7-11).

This verse hit me because of its sheer enormity, yet understatedness - the eternal consequence of a few words; the mind-blowing concept, even to the disciples who witnessed the miracles first-hand, that believers in Jesus can do greater things than He did.

The meaning behind this verse is starting to dawn on me too - it is a promise of things to come. It is a promise of the coming power of The Holy Spirit at work in God's church to deliver people into Jesus' safe and loving arms. In a human body, Jesus couldn't have (realistically) spread the Gospel all over the world, but believers have done - not individually, but as a body. Unified and working together, empowered by The Holy Spirit, we truly can do great things... and even greater things!

A Meditation

Psalm 57:2 says

"I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me."

God, the Most High is performing all things for me. There He is, on the great stage of the history of our world, in the theatre of eternity, perfect in His every word, His every pronouncement. He is word perfect and a master of timing - He never misses His cue; neither does He need a prompter sat in the wings, waiting for an error which isn't going to come.

He needs no understudy, for He will not tire, nor fade.

Despite applying Himself to varying situations and scenarios, His persona doesn't change; and yet this is not a fault either - there is method in His every move. There is depth in every plot and sub-plot of every scene of every act of the play that is my life. There is variation, tragedy, comedy, joy, sorrow, drama. He is able to apply Himself to each of these effortlessly, working through from start to finish - completing each, not as a chore, but as a reward to those intended to see and hear what occurs.

Here I am, in the cheap seats, watching Him act out His every purpose in my life, performing all things through me and for me.
I am awestruck.
I am starstruck.
I am spellbound.
This play He has chosen for me, having written the script eons before I was even dreamt of on this planet. He knew I would be coming to this theatre; He even knew which seat I would choose to sit in, and He wrote this play with me in mind.

Yet, at the end of this play, it is I who will bow out, while He remains. After all, mine is not the only one He performs.

He has placed His star upon the boulevard within my soul, His Name upon it, and planted His hand in the wet cement of my heart.

Bravo.

Encore.